Are you ready for back to school? We’ve put together a simple back to school guide showcasing some of our favorite affordable Back To School items for parents. Enjoy! Most of our picks are for preschool through early elementary age kids…even homeschoolers!

A Cute Tee for The First Day of School

$24 from VeryMeri.com

 Personalized Backpack That Won’t Get Lost

$19 from PotteryBarn Kids

Fun Lunchboxes

$9.95 Built Kids from ReusableBags.com

 Durable & Cute Shoes for All Boys

$59.95 from Vincent Shoes

Fun Colorful Shoes for The Girls- Converse

$19.99 from Target, available in select colors

                                  Featured Cool School Supply Pick: Street Science - for kids that like stylish supplies

$2.99 + at Amazon and Kmart, Visit StreetSci.com

School Supplies Picks List:

1. School Zone’s 3D Think & Blink Alphabet - a perfect game for pre-k and kindergarten age kids. Lots of fun! School Zone has lots of great products.
2. School Zone’s Math Readiness Stickerbook. Check out our complete review here
3. School Zone’s Big Science Workbook for grades 2-3. This is perfect for homeschooling families with hours of fun experiments!
4. School Zone’s Big Alphabet Workbook. Great skill building activities for preschool kids. My 4 year old son loves his.
5. Crayola Washable Squeeze Paint - One word - washable!
6. Loveable Labels Press ‘N Stick Personalized Clothing Dots.  Great for labeling kids clothes and school supplies so they are easy to find if they get lost or mixed up! From Lovable Labels.ca Shipping is free in Canada and only $2.50 to the US. WOW!

And, last but not least a few fun books to read to your kids the night before school starts back.

Two More Great Back To School Guides for Moms

Cool Mom Picks 

Kaboose

If you have preschoolers and are looking for some really fun and unique educational games then the Cranium Bloom products are for you!

We recently had the chance to review two of the new products from the Cranium Bloom line. The games we have are Let’s Play Count & Cook Game & Let’s Go To The Zoo Seek & Find Puzzle.

Both of our boys, ages 3 & 6, were very excited to play the new games we received in the mail. The first game we played together was the Let’s Play Count & Cook Game. Both boys really enjoyed this one since they got to put together recipes to win the game! This game is really easy for the preschool-aged child and fun since almost all kids like to be involved in the cooking process. Each game card also includes a real recipe for you to do with your kids which adds to the interactivity of the game. Overall, A Mom’s Review definitely recommends this game for all kids ages 3+. Even adults will enjoy this simple game!

The Let’s Go To The Zoo Seek & Find Puzzle is filled with zoo day activities. Our 6 year old put the puzzle together. Then we all played the game of finding and circling the objects in the puzzle which is very much like the seek & find books that we all enjoy! This game comes with a dry erase pen so when you are done all you have to do is quickly erase the puzzle board. The only negative to this game is that the dry erase marker doesn’t last very long. We’ve played this game about 6 times already and the marker barely works. Overall, A Mom’s Review recommends this product. However you may want to keep an extra dry erase pen around.

Currently, these products are only available at Target, the Cranium store online, and a few of them are online at Amazon.com (via Target).

Here are several of the newest fun & educational Cranium Bloom Games That We Totally Adore:

Cranium Bloom Let’s Play Count and Cook Game - Only at Target

Cranium Bloom Let’s Go to the Zoo Seek and Find Puzzle - Only at Target

Cranium Bloom Let’s Go Shopping Activity Deck - Only at Target

Cranium Bloom Let’s Play Measure and Cook Activity Set - Only at Target

We were recently given the chance to review a few products from the new Baby Jamz toy line created by Mathew and Solange Knowles,the father and sister of Beyonce Knowles. These products have come about just in time for Christmas for the tiny hip-hop lovers in your family.
The Baby Jamz Boom Box Shape Sorter Toy was our favorite out of all three toys that we got to sample. It is simple, sturdy, and an engaging musical toy for babies under 2. The shape sorter plays 3 nursery rhyme songs by Solange Knowles with a hip-hop twist. The songs included are Hip Hop Buckle My Shoe, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and The Wheels On The Bus.

For some reason I just can’t get used to these songs and I will say that I think many parents will find them irritating while others will probably welcome the change from the ordinary nursery rhymes.
The product states that the toy is for 6 to 36 months but I think it’s a little oversimplified for kids over age 2. While our son did enjoy this toy and I liked it as well, I noticed he got bored of it very quickly possibly due to the toy only having 3 shapes and limited capabilities.

Overall this is a good buy for kids who are into music at a very young age. However, like I stated above, if you have a child 2 or older I would not recommend this toy. Maybe try the dance mat instead.

These toys are sold exclusively at wal-mart.

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And now it’s time for a contest…

Baby Jamz Shape Sorter Contest:

We wanted to give one of you the chance to win one of the toys from the new Baby Jamz toy line to see how well you like it. To enter to win the Baby Jamz Shape Sorter leave a comment on this post telling me you want to win by Sat. Dec. 22nd, 2007.

Rules: US resident, 18+, void where prohibited, must have a contact email address and please check back to see if you have won. It is best to bookmark our site, add it to your feed reader,etc. and check daily to see winners and other things we have going on with the site.

Have you tried any of the toys from the new Baby Jamz toy line? Leave a comment telling us what you think of them.

I love giving and receiving personalized gifts. To me, few things are more meaningful. Since it is gift-giving season and every child you know probably has every toy imaginable why not give them a truly one of a kind gift. This holiday season I whole-heartedly recommend the CustomMadeForKids The First Adventures of Incredible You book.

CustomMadeForKids books are books that are personalized to fit with your child’s favorite things! This book is created with around 20 facts about your child. It truly is a one of a kind book that any child would love! The book starts with the birth of your child and continues on a personal journey of your child’s favorite park to your child’s favorite food, and so much more that will have both of you filled with joy!

THE GIVEAWAY!

We loved this book so much that we wanted to let one of our dear readers have a chance to win a gift certificate for their very own special book. And, just in case you don’t win we also have a discount (discount code is amr10) for our readers so that you can get 10% off your order if you order before Dec. 7th. This is also the deadline to place an order to receive your order in time for the Christmas holiday.

HOW TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post telling me why you want to win! You can simply say because I want to or you can give me a long drawn out thoughtful answer. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you leave a comment and I have a way of contacting you. You must place your email in the contact/comment form.

RULES: This contest is open to legal US residents, 18+, void where prohibited. One entry per person and only one winner will be selected. The deadline to enter is December 4th, 2007 11:59 PM EST.

Overall, The First Adventures of Incredible You has quickly become one of our family’s favorite books to read. It just may be the best gift anyone could ever give!

*Take a virtual tour of this personalized book today! Don’t forget to use coupon code amr10 with your order for 10% off.

I love finding new educational and entertaining DVD’s for my boys ( ages 3 and 6) to watch. When I came across the Rock ‘N Learn DVDs I was thrilled to say the least.

I work from home and sometimes I really need a few extra minutes to get some work done. I can put in a Rock ‘N learn DVD when I’m working and be guilt-free (mostly anyway) knowing that my boys are learning something valuable while watching tv. Recently, we had the chance to check out 4 Rock ‘N Learn titles for ages 3 & up and I’ve included a brief synopsis of each title below.

Colors, Shapes, & Counting: This is perfect for teaching preschool age kids their basic colors and shapes in a fun interactive way! It is the best colors & shapes learning dvd that we have come across. This our 3 year old son’s favorite Rock ‘N Learn DVD right now! Did I mention that he now knows what a hexagon and octagon are?
Dance With The Animals: If your preschool age child wants to learn all about animals and loves music plus dancing this would be perfect for them! It’s so fun to watch my son make the sounds and the movements of the animals!

Alphabet: Learning the alphabet is fun with this DVD. If you want to give your children a headstart on the alphabet and early reading then this DVD is a good one to choose. It teaches both upper and lower case letters which is great because many similar products only teach capital letters which can lead to confusion when your child goes to school.

Letter Sounds: This DVD is perfect for kindergarten and 1st grade kids that are starting to read. Our 6 year old son enjoys the interactive games on this DVD. Surprisingly, the games are very effective and fun! If you are a homeschooler, this DVD would be the perfect addition to your learning tools.

Overall, we have enjoyed sampling the Rock ‘N Learn products and recommend them for every parent who wants to give their children a head start. To preview the Rock ‘N Learn videos, go to rocknlearn.com and let your child preview a clip of any dvd.

Rock ‘N Learn Contest: How To Enter:

We love the Rock ‘N Learn products so much that we wanted to give one of you a chance to win your very own DVD. You get to choose which of the Rock ‘N Learn products you would like best. To enter, you will need to visit rocknlearn.com then come back here and leave a comment telling us which product is your favorite. That’s it! Rules: US resident, 18+, void where prohibited. Deadline to enter is Wed. Nov. 21st, 2007 11:59 pm EST.

We always love getting new kids books to review since we are a family of book lovers. So today I’m happy to be bringing you a review of BOB books. We received the BOB books set 1 for beginning readers. Set 1 is for ages 4 and up. However, our 3 year old enjoyed them just as well.

The BOB books set 1 remind me of a simple set of books that I had as a child. I think these books are perfect for the beginning reader. Having three letter word stories helps a child feel confident in reading. The first book in the set “Mat” was easy for our 6 year old to recognize and read. I was thrilled by this and I’m looking forward to checking out some of the other sets.

Overall, I give BOB books 4 thumbs up! We hope you’ll feel the same too!

*Don’t forget to enter our contest. We are giving away a subscription to the Tessy & Tab Reading Club that all the mommas are loving!

We recently received the premier (pilot) episode of Yo Gabba Gabba, the new show for preschoolers, from Nick Jr. to check out and review. The episode we were sent was “eat” which premieres on Nick Jr. on August 20th, 2007. Check your local tv listings for times.

Yo Gabba Gabba is a fun, upbeat and colorful cartoon that is sure to please the age group that it is marketed to. The music is great and the lessons learned are even better. In the first episode, “Eat” , kids learn that eating healthy foods are fun all the while dancing and hopping around to the music!

Overall our music lovin’ 3 year old enjoys the show and we look forward to watching the upcoming episodes together.  This mom gives Yo Gabba Gabba a 4 thumbs up!

In addition, parents can print off Yo Gabba Gabba coloring pages, activities and even make Yo Gabba Gabba monster masks at the NickJr.com Yo Gabba Gabba Activities center online.